Question for everyone?

Question

In this question the asker asks if Rev 21:8 convinces the reader to turn their life over to Jesus.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20060807102231AAWnuYr&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFMhDBcVwUHxOIRY1FhClnmkLoyqsJVXyvycA--#NbUvWDC.VzMF_au32A8W

Since I read in Rev 7:1 and Rev 20:8 that the Earth has four corners, and logically I know that the Earth is round shaped like a globe and doesn't have four corners, I know to take Rev 7:1 and 20:8 as metaphor, symbol. We are also taking 21:8 therefore to also be metaphor, or symbol. I don't think it makes sense to turn over a life based on an interpretation of an allegory, a symbol.

I asked the asker and I ask the yahoo answers community, because I want to believe in God, for empirical evidence in your God, to create a database of answers for today and future Generations, Do you believers in God have any empirical evidence to believe in God? Or do you believe and have faith based on an interpretation of a symbol, a metaphor, in a book

Without empirical evidence, I would be having faith based on your expiriences of God if God is real and made himself or herself real to you. I can't put my faith in that because that isn't an expirience I have had, and since there are many different systems of believe in God, I wouldn't want to have faith in the wrong one.

Answer 1

Sorry Jim....I just have experiences to share and they are remarkable, but I understand your want of empirical evidence. I'm afraid that spirituality is not based on that at all though....it's believing in the unbelievable and believing in what you can't see.....we can all believe in what we see (sometimes), but true faith is believing in what is unseen. I have had experiences that I know God had a hand in.....my brother is still alive today, and I give the credit to God.....my mother and I heard some kind of whisper and moved his bed, and because of this the bullet that ripped through his wall didn't hit him in the head. Had we left the bed where it was, he would not be with us. I think we hear the whispers....and sometimes the screams if we are hard of hearing. The key is to be open to the words coming through. Good luck on your journey Jim....I hope you find what you are looking for and much more. :)

Answer 2

The Bible only says truth. The four corners represent a metaphor. in the older days they thought the earth wasn't round. You need to read Genesis. You should start at the beginning of the Bible first. It will answer your tough questions first then read Revelations. God cares for you so much. Have faith. Don't let the evil one get you down with questions.pray and seek God first priority. You may not hear God's voice, but believe always!
God bless and keep you always!
Your loving sister in Christ,
Jesus Freak! <>< <>< <>< <(:-:)>

Answer 3

I think, supposedly, that before this whole shebang is over, many more people will have come to God before the final judgement. There is quite a bit more in Revelation chapters 20 and 21 that I would refer to, that state that souls who had not worshipped the beast or received his mark would come to life and reign with Christ for the thousand years of peace. This sounds like it would include those who had not necessarily put their faith in God. Also, it says that the dead were judged 'from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.' Then, Rev. 21:6-7 is God saying He will give to 'the one who thirsts from the spring of water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.' ULTIMATELY...God is the only one who knows all the answers. I do believe that He does not want anyone to perish and that He will give us all chances possible to come to Him. You might want to ask a biblical scholar, because I also know that Revelation is the hardest book to interpret, and those of us who are here are most likely the least reliable ;)

Answer 4

The existence of God cannot be proven in a laboratory or through the complicated mechanisms of logic. Neither can love, nor beauty, nor happiness, but that does not mean they are not real. In the same way, just because you cannot "prove" that God exists as you can prove a chemical formula, it does not mean that He is not real. It only means you are using the wrong tools.

Faith is not anti-intellectual. Some of the finest scientists are men and women with a deep faith in God, because they realize that science alone cannot explain where we came from or why we are here. They are convinced that science itself points to an all-wise and all-powerful Creator. As the Bible says, 'The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands' (Psalm 19:1)."

Look beyond the physical world to the greatest evidence of all—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible says we can know God is real, because He came into this world in the Person of Jesus Christ. If you want to know what God is like, look at Christ, who is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). Don't let pride or anything else get in the way of discovering the new life He alone can give. When we open our lives to Jesus Christ, we are admitting that we do not have all the answers and cannot save ourselves. The Bible says, "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25).

The Bible also says, "You can never please God without faith ... Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God" (Hebrews 11:6, TLB). You best demonstrate your faith in a bank by putting your money in it. You best show your faith in a doctor by trusting him in times of illness. You best prove your faith in a boat by getting aboard. You demonstrate faith in Christ by trusting Him with your life and by receiving Him unconditionally as your Savior.

Answer 5

For evidence of God, consult your pineal gland.

Do you consider anecdotal evidence empirical like the psychiatrists do? Or do you only consider physical evidence empirical? Don't you think asking for empirical evidence of a non-physical being to be...."butt stupid?"

If I put a metaphor in a book about...say..evolution...would you choose not to believe in evolution because I put it in the form of metaphor, in...of all things...a book? If you believe in evolution, do you believe because you looked around and said, hey monkeys are my ancestors! Or did you read it in a book?

If you were blind, and I tried to describe the color red to you, and I said it gives off a feeling akin to heat, would you have any empirical evidence to believe me or any sighted person? Does that mean that the color red does not exist because some people can't see it while others can?

Ok, read the link I posted below, then memorize the entire near-death.com site, and get back to us. There will be a quiz on
the material.

Answer 6

asking questions is the start. here is something you will enjoy form albert einstein.

A University professor at a well known institution of
higher learning challenged his students with this
question. "Did God create everything that exists?"
A student bravely replied, "Yes he did !"
"God created everything ?" The professor asked.
"Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything;
then God created evil.
And, since evil exists, and according to the principal
that our works define who we are,
then we can assume God is evil."
The student became quiet and did not respond to the
professor's hypothetical definition.
The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to
the students that he had
proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.


Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask
you a question, professor?"
"Of course", replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold
exist ?"
"What kind of question is this ? Of course it exists.
Have you never been cold ?"
The other students snickered at the young man's
question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not
exist. According to the laws of physics,
what we consider cold is in reality the absence of
heat.
Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it
has or transmits energy,
and heat is what makes a body or matter have or
transmit energy.
Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat;
and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction
at that temperature. Cold does not exist.
We have created this word to describe how we feel if
we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness
exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir,
darkness does not exist either.
Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we


can study, but not darkness.
In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white
light into many colors
and study the various wavelengths of each color. You
cannot measure darkness.
A simple ray of light can break into a world of
darkness and illuminate it.
How can you know how dark a certain space is ?
You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this
correct?
Darkness is a term used by man to describe what
happens when there is no light present."



Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does
evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as
I have already said.
We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of
man's inhumanity to man.
It is in the multitude of crime and violence
everywhere in the world.
These manifestations are nothing else but evil.
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist,
sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself.
Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like
darkness and cold,
a word that man has created to describe the absence of
God.
God did not create evil.
Evil is the result of what happens when man does not
have God's love present in his heart.
It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat,
or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The professor sat down.
The young man's name -- Albert Einstein

Answer 7

God asks for faith--I would love to see some hard evidence, too, but I still believe. I trust in the idea that there must be a reason for our existance--also a reason for our power to reason, other than furthering our own human goals in life. The very fact that I desire more than what this world offers leads me to belive that there is someone out there that wants that too--GOD. Would you rather believe that this wonderful world is just an accident of nature?

Answer 8

Revelations is indeed full of symbolism. I believe that is because God knows it is best for us not to know exactly what the future holds, but to recognize the signs as they are happening. As for the meaning of "four corners of the earth", I'll refer you to billcompugeek's answer.

I find it interesting that Isaiah 40:22, Isaiah being written in the eighth century before Christ, describes the earth as a circle: "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers." I suppose "sphere" would be more accurate, but I suppose that from above the earth it would look like a circle. :O) Explorers didn't figure that one out until much, much later, but I've wondered if Columbus got the idea of sailing *around* the earth from that verse.

Answer 9

The vast amount of things we know comes from learning from other people's experiences, trusting that they seem to work for them, so we give it a try.
Examples: Diving into a pool, the price scanners at Wal-mart, Traffic lights.

The only reason we trust these things is because we witnessed others interact with them, we saw positive results, and then gave it a try ourselves. If our result wasn't good, but we continued to witness others still having success, then we try again and again, because we logically assume that the problem lies not in the other, but in ourselves.
With over five millennia of history behind a theist faith, are you so sure of yourself?

Answer 10

only 1 verse what are you doing with a bible anyways if you don't believe smart look the four corners of the earth are there not for you to see neither is it for me but it is there and at the four corners the four angels are there for a reason if your going to read a bible read it right if your gonna use something in the bible to turn it against god it won't work cause everything in it makes sense you probably won't cause you didn't read the rest